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‘The Walking Dead' Season 5, Episode 2 Recap: Fresh Meat

‘The Walking Dead' Recap: Fresh Meat (SPOILERS)
AMC

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS. Read on only if you've already seen "The Walking Dead" Season 5, Episode 2, titled "Strangers."

Before I can even begin to appropriately recap this episode, there's something that needs to be addressed: the Termites ate Bob.

Well, they didn’t eat all of him. Just his left leg, really, but the shock was enough to leave our stomachs turning even after the episode ended. Of course we always knew the Termites were cannibals. We suspected it from the beginning, what with their aggressive slaughter of innocent people and storing away their carcasses. But while our suspicions were made, nothing could have prepared us for the vile confirmation that it was true. Way to go, AMC.

Clearly the gang should have listened to Rick last week when he advised that they exterminate every last one of the Termites. Unfortunately, their good-natured decision left them open to danger as Gareth and his crew are now targeting each one of them as their next meal. We now know that the Termites were the ones who were in the woods watching Rick and the group as they slept. It really doesn’t get any creepier than that.

“No one is safe” was the clear message behind this episode, and not just in regards to Bob. Rick reinforced this to Carl after Carl admitted that he trusted Father Gabriel, a stranger they just met (Hey, this is turning into "The Wire" before our very eyes!). “Everybody can’t be bad,” Carl said.

It’s interesting to see the contrast in character between the father and son duo. Carl is proving to be the voice of reason when Rick gets caught up in seeing only one side of things. As the season progresses, it will be interesting to see if Carl’s experiences change his views or makes him stick to his beliefs even more.

While Carl and Rick had conflicting opinions about Father Gabriel, I have to say that I sided with Carl -- at first, that is! Though I originally thought Gabriel was a harmless man, doubts crept in when Carl discovered an engraving on the side of Gabriel’s church that read: “You’ll burn for this.” Plus, Gabriel’s weird sense of humour as he joked about luring the group into a trap was incredibly off-putting. You just don’t make jokes like that in an apocalypse. You just don’t.

I have a theory that Gabriel had something to do with Beth’s kidnapping. After all, how weird is it that the kidnapper’s car would pass by so close to the church? And on top of that, the car had a cross on the back windshield, drawing even more connections to Gabriel’s church. Fortunately, Daryl and Carol saw the getaway car speed past them in the night. Since they just happened to be standing by a car, they quickly hopped in and sped off in pursuit.

As for the rest of the gang, they were safe back in Gabriel’s church after they successfully found food, water, and ammunition earlier that day. While having a feast of their own, Rick finally decided that they would all go to Washington with Abraham and his crew. To me, this seemed like the only logical decision. After all, why wouldn’t you try to cure this pandemic if you knew you could?

It was fantastic to see the whole gang back together this episode, and I loved that the characters reflected this feeling in their interactions as well. Following the craziness of the premiere last week, this episode really felt like a new beginning, especially since many of the characters admitted the faults of their past. Tara, for instance, told Maggie that she was originally on the Governor’s side when they first met, and Tyreese admitted that it was Carol who burned the two sick people back at the prison.

I’m happy to see that these characters are getting the chance to have a fresh start. After all, it only seems right since many of them are so different from who they were when they first started out. I just hope that no more deaths tear the gang apart again, but as we all know too well, no one is safe.

Random Thoughts:

  • Bob and Sasha are on their way to becoming the cutest couple on “The Walking Dead.” That is, if Bob survives…
  • Gabriel’s church is located in the middle of nowhere in the woods. That in itself is suspicious. Also, there are no barricades on the door, or anything else for that matter.
  • Michonne admits she doesn’t miss her sword, but we sure do!
  • When Carol went back out to the car in the middle of the night, it seemed like she was intending to leave the group. Only one question: Why?
  • Did anyone else gag when Gareth told Bob, “If it makes you feel any better, you taste much better than we thought you would”?

“The Walking Dead” airs on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. EST on AMC.

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